6/1 People say that running is 90% mental and 10% physical (or something like that). I'm not sure if people say the same thing about cycling, but I know that, personally, the mental barriers in any activity far outweigh the physical (I quit running because it caused me too much anxiety). Yesterday was one of those mentally challenging days. A lot of the 97-mile route between Rochester and Syracuse is on a gravel bike path, which is hard not only on your mind, but also on your body. The path ends about halfway through and starts up again later, but we decided to opt for the road a little earlier to save our minds and bodies some grief.
For about a week, we've been blessed with tailwinds. As much as I love the speed and distance you can accomplish with such winds, a part of me doesn't like it because I know it's not sustainable; we will not always have the benefit of traveling at 15 MPH with barely any effort. Yesterday was a day where, if you were standing still, you would barely notice a breeze. But if you were on a bike headed in the wrong direction, you could feel an invisible force working against every bit of effort you put forth. Somewhere near the Pennsylvania/New York border we hit hills, a feature that has stayed with us and will grow larger into mountains as we head further east. Luckily we had mostly downhills yesterday, but because of the wind, we had to keep pedaling in order to maintain a decent pace.
When the trail started up again, we headed back with mixed emotions: the trail meant flat terrain that is protected from the headwinds, but a mile on a trail feels infinitely longer than a mile on the road. But we made it, and we made it through the hills of Syracuse too. We're taking a much needed day off at our sister's, sleeping in and eating lots.
No comments:
Post a Comment